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If you ever go back and read Gwen Stacy’s earliest appearances, you might be surprised at just how much the character has changed. In flashbacks, Spider-Man’s college girlfriend is mostly depicted as a sweet, gentle, and studious woman. This is a far cry from the Gwen Stacy that was introduced in Amazing Spider-Man #31 (1965). The character was assertive, aggressive, short-tempered, and had a bit of a mean streak.

When Steve Ditko left Amazing Spider-Man, the title went through a metamorphosis. John Romita Sr. replaced Ditko as penciler and redefined many aspects of Spider-Man’s life, including Gwen Stacy. Romita, who passed away in 2023, believes his artistic influence may be the reason why Gwen began to cool down.

“I used to love to draw both [Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy], but I did take special pains to make Gwen a real lady, a special angel,” John Romita Sr. says during a panel at Toronto Comicon 2012. “In fact, I take a little credit. I think if anybody remembers that far back, Gwen Stacy was a little bit of an ice princess when [Steve Ditko] first was using her. She was the one that would always freeze Peter Parker out.”

“When I took it over, and I didn’t do it on purpose, because I don’t believe in that stuff - I don’t believe that the first thing you do when you take over a strip is change it. But something in me, when I’m doing my heroine or hero, I try to make them as good-looking as possible. Stan used to drive me crazy, saying Peter Parker looks too good. He’s supposed to be a nerd. So, with Gwen I subtly made her sweeter.”

Romita believes that Stan began to write Gwen differently based on how Romita was drawing her, and before you know it, she became a different character. “I don’t know if she started to treat Peter better because I did the drawings or not. All I know is that she started treating him better. Stan used to admit that sometimes the artist used to slant his direction on a character. So, I got a feeling that I turned Gwen into a pretty nice person because I like to draw nice people. And Stan says, it’s okay with me.”

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko may have created Gwen Stacy, but John Romita Sr. made her the character we love today.

Marvel's most reliable superhero has proven he can do a whole lot more than just 'whatever a spider can.' Swing into Spidey's history with Popverse's...

• Best Spider-Man comic books 
• The best Spider-Mans (or is it Spider-Men?)
• Spider-Man movie watch order
• Spider-Man's actors, ranked
• The best Spider-Man suits
• and the Spider-verse explained!

Just watch out for that radioactive blood.